Dr Death Jailed In Australia

A U.S. surgeon convicted of manslaughter after botching a series of operations has been jailed for seven years by an Australian court.

Jayant Patel, 60, an Indian-born US citizen now known as “Dr Death,” was employed at Queensland hospital between 2003 and 2005. It was there that Patel’s negligence lead to the death of three patients and seriously injured another.

Patel had pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of Gerry Kemps, 77, James Phillips, 46, and Mervyn Morris, 75, and causing grievous bodily harm to Ian Vowles, 63.

Dr Death Jayant Patel

But following a 14 week trail at the Brisbane Supreme Court, Patel was eventually convicted on all four accounts earlier this week.

Judge John Byrne told the court:

“The community denounces your repeated serious disregard for the welfare of the four patients,”

“Three lives were lost and Mr. Vowles will suffer for the rest of his life.”

The prosecution argued Patel’s operations were substandard, claiming he was “motivated by ego and suffering from lack of insight” and was criminally negligent in operating on Gerry Kemp, Mervyn Morris, and James Phillips – all of whom died. The fourth patient, Ian Vowles, suffered serious injuries when Patel removed his healthy bowel.

During the trail, the court heard that Patel had botched operations, misdiagnosed patients, removed healthy organs and used sloppy surgical techniques during his time at Bundaberg Base hospital. The court also heard how before arriving in Australia, Patel had been banned from conducting surgery in the US states of New York and Oregon. Judge Byrne said:

“The order for your surgical misadventures in Oregon gave very good reason to reflect before commending surgery to patients in Bundaberg… yet you told no one about the order.”

An official inquiry into Queensland State’s health system prompted by Patel’s case linked him to numerous fatalities at Bundaberg hospital, and local politician Rob Messenger said there were as many as 87 deaths under his watch.